Quincy carpenter assaulted in N.Y.

A 25-year-old carpenter from Quincy was in serious condition yesterday, the victim of an assault outside a Yonkers, N.Y., hotel by a group of men he said had asked about his allegiance to the Red Sox.

Two men from Pennsylvania were arrested in the assault, which occurred Wednesday night, authorities said.

Carlos Ortez was watching the Red Sox-Angels playoff game in the lounge of a Ramada Inn with other workers for Holden-based Woodmeister Master Builders, who were working on a construction project at a Manhattan hotel. He was sitting with co-worker Walter Ostromecki, 30, of North Brookfield, who was wearing a Red Sox hat and T-shirt, when a patron at the end of the bar asked the two men if they had pride in Boston, said Lieutenant Philip Collins, of the Yonkers Police.

Ostromecki told police it seemed like the other group of patrons had been trying to instigate a fight.

"The way I understand it is that they were Yankees fans," said Chris Komenda, marketing manager for Woodmeister Master Builders, whose executives drove to the hospital yesterday.

A police spokesman said it was not clear whether the baseball rivalry led to the alleged assault.

Immediately after the Red Sox's 4-0 win, the two men left the hotel in opposite directions, and Ortez was approached from behind by the man who had taunted them, along with two other men.

Ostromecki saw Ortez was being attacked and approached them, but the assailants ran toward a parking lot.

Ortez was in intensive care yesterday with multiple facial fractures at the Westchester Medical Center, Komenda said.

Duane Somers, 32, of Huntingdon, Penn., and Edward McConaughey, 42, of Orbisonia, Penn., were arrested at the hotel Wednesday night and charged with second-degree felony assault, said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Westchester District Attorney's office. They were arraigned yesterday, and their bail was set at $10,000 apiece, Chalfen said. He could not say whether they had made bail. A Westchester County Jail employee said the men were not listed as inmates. They are set to appear in court again on Wednesday, Chalfen said.

Authorities said Somers and McConaughey also were carpenters in town for a construction job.

Komenda said the company has moved the four other employees to another hotel for the duration of the job.

Komenda said the company has put employees up at the Ramada Inn in Yonkers for years without incident.

"We have employees who travel for us, and that's our number one worry, that while they're away from home, they're in a safe situation," she said. "These two guys are the nicest gentlemen. They would not provoke the situation."

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.